Differences
by PinkSakuraPetals
Summary: The more Hatake Kakashi thinks about it, the more he realizes that Team Seven.....doesn’t really seem to have anything in common.


The more Hatake Kakashi thinks about it, the more he realizes that Team Seven, containing Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto, doesn't really seem to have anything in common. One is a through-bred ninja, one is the first in the family to become a ninja, and the other…well, honestly the only thing the third one has going for him is the fact that he stubbornly refuses to give up. There is no way for his students to relate with each other.

Even their goals are different. Sasuke wants to kill his older brother (_which seems silly, of course…if he killed his brother he really would be the last Uchiha_), Sakura wants Sasuke to realize her feelings for him, and Naruto wants respect in the form of the title Hokage.

Kakashi watches his students train. Sasuke works diligently, never wavering from his task. Sakura is easily distracted by Sasuke and her hair getting messed up by the wind (_I knew I should've used hairspray today!_) . Naruto is too busy complaining about how hungry he was (_Hey, Kakashi-sensei! Do you think we could get ramen after training? Your treat!_), and taunting Sasuke about being Hokage and kicking his ass with one arm behind his back. Of course, when Sasuke replies that he'd be happy to test out that theory, Naruto is quick to make an excuse about meeting Iruka for lunch and hightailing it out of there.

So, Kakashi is puzzled as to how he has managed to make the three children work together. He is sure he hasn't slipped them any drugs, but maybe he's getting senile in his twenty-six years of age.

* * *

Kakashi occasionally watches the other genin cells train. He'd heard the other jounin sensei talking about their groups…none of them mentioned any problems with their students not getting along like his cell had. This compelled him to study the other children and try to figure out why his team was so different. 

He starts with Team Eight. Hyuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino are under the tutelage of Yuhi Kurenai. The group specializes in tracking, each member able to pinpoint the location of their target in their own way. Hinata can see the chakra system of any other ninja around her. (_There's more to it than that, but Kakashi is a simple man and doesn't like to go into details._) Kiba uses his nin-dog, Akamaru, to sniff out the target's whereabouts. Shino can call upon insects from his surroundings as well as from underneath his skin (_thinking about that little tidbit still gives Kakashi the willies_) to do recognizance for him so that he can stay a safe distance away.

Kakashi reasons that, while its interesting to see children from three different Clans getting along, it's not the reason why his own team of miscreants can work together with only minimal bloodshed. Pulling out Come Come Paradise, the jounin leaves to check on the three, knowing that Sakura is going to be mad at him for being four hours late again.

* * *

Kakashi thinks that Team Gai might've been cell nine at one point, but that the green-clad jounin, Maito Gai, changed the name to try and garner that power of youth from his students by inspiring a sense of team uniqueness. While Rock Lee may have been moved by this idea, Hyuga Neji and Tenten didn't seem as enthusiastic about the matching green spandex outfits they were given. (_Kakashi never does find out what those two do with the suits, but figures that it involves fire and lots of maniacal laughter._) 

The team's abilities obviously lie in hand-to-hand combat and the use of weapons. Tenten uses weapons with a skill that rivals just about everyone in the village. (_Kakashi doesn't believe it at first, but when Gai has Tenten demonstrate her accuracy, he decides that having hundreds of sharp objects aimed at your groin motivates a man to agree with anything._) Rock Lee turns out to be a very disturbing looking clone of Gai and his power lies in taijutsu. The boy is unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, but is still capable of giving his enemies a run for their money. Neji has his abilities as a Hyuga and is much more talented that Hinata. (_Though Kakashi thinks that this may be because the boy has had more training._) He uses both taijutsu and his abilities as a Hyuga to fight, making him a formidable opponent.

Kakashi's own team does not have any common abilities. Sasuke has the Sharingan, Naruto has his clone jutsu and sexy jutsu (_Kakashi is disturbed by this one; Naruto make a very…pretty girl._), and Sakura….well Sakura has a very good control of her chakra. He leaves once again to check up on his students. Sakura didn't like his lost puppy excuse last time and he figures that he might as well make an effort to only be an hour late this time.

* * *

Sarutobi Asuma has it easy when it comes to Team Ten. Akimichi Choji, Yamanaka Ino, and Nara Shikamaru all have history together. Their fathers, the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio, were put on the team as well back when they were genin. As a result, Team Ten have been childhood friends and work together rather well. Kakashi is jealous of this. He tried to get Asuma to switch with him back when the genin teams were being handed out, but Asuma is just as lazy as Kakashi sometimes and refused. 

Again, Kakashi realizes that his team doesn't a history together, other than going to the academy at the same time. So, if his students don't all come from well-known families, and they don't all have similar abilities, and they don't have a life-long history together, then how do they manage to work as a team so well?

* * *

He is overseeing his team's latest mission; weeding out a vegetable garden. Sasuke works with hardly any words, Sakura complains about bugs and heat and dirt, and Naruto won't shut up about how when he's Hokage, he'll never have to do another D-ranked mission again. Kakashi smiles and reads his book in silence, looking up every so often to check on his students. Naruto has thrown a clod of dirt and weeds at Sasuke (_Take that bastard!_) and Sakura is busy beating Naruto over the head with a spade (_Naruto, you idiot! Don't hit Sasuke!_) and Sasuke runs a hand through his hair to rid himself of the dirt (_Dobe!_). As the hose that they left unattended begins to make the garden into a mud pit and the three children start to fling wet masses of weeds and dirt at each other and Kakashi gets ready to break it up, he realizes that he knows why his cell gets along. 

It's because they _are_ different. None of them have anything in common with each other or with other teams, which in turn gives them something in common with each other anyway. It's their differences that make them work together so well. One is a through-bred ninja, one is the first ninja in the family, and the other is lucky to have finally graduated from the academy.

Kakashi returns to his book with a smile, keeping an eye out for projectiles heading his way.

* * *

Hmmm…this is my first pondering!Kakashi oneshot. I'm not quite sure what to think of it. Comments? 

Okay, okay, so….I'm not dead, obviously, and neither do I have a very good excuse for not updating _Treasures at the Heart of the Tanglewood_ or _Changing Lives in a New World_, so I'm not going to bother. I'll just say this: I'M VERY LAZY AND GRADUATING SUCKS.

Anyway, I'll tell you all what's going on with those two stories (because I'm not continuing the other ones right now): I'm working on the next chapter of TatHotT….it's just taking a while because the book has tiny print and it's hard to keep the damn thing open to the page I want so that I can type quicker. (Yeah, the story isn't mine at all….I think I told everyone that.) For CLiaNW: again, I'm working on the next chapter, but it's been _quite a while_ since I last wrote, so I have to try to remember where I wanted to go next with the story. Any suggestions you guys give me would be appreciated, but I'll probably just use them as inspiration and not as an actual idea. (Did that make sense?)

PinkSakuraPetals


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